Man Who Worked As A Salesman In A Retail Company, Now An Electronic Business Owner, With 16 Stores Within A Decade, Meet Charles Antwi-Boahen, Founder Of Kab-Fam

Kab-Fam Ghana specialises in the retail of electronics and home appliances. The company is currently working on opening its 16th store with a target to increase its market share to at least 50%.

Speaking with Maureen Ihua-Maduenyi, he shared how the idea of Kab-Fam came about.

I didn’t plan to open a retail business initially. I had worked as a salesman in a central air-conditioning system retail company, which is now defunct. The company sold only central units but people kept requesting split unit air conditioners. I identified a need and went to Electroland – a distributor of electronic brands in Ghana – to see what it could offer. I saw the margins on its products and realised we could do business. I would refer buyers to Electroland and was paid a commission. The founder recognised the potential and gave me US$60,000 to start my own retail business.

The early days of Kab-Fam

In the beginning, people didn’t know the company. We had to make so much noise to encourage buyers. Online marketing was, and still is, a big part of our growth. I advertised on Google Trader back in 2012 for the company I worked for. When I started out on my own, I continued to post on Google Trader and people would call me. I didn’t have a showroom. I would source supplies from Electroland where I had already created an account and was paid from the margin. This continued for some time with a decent turnover before I registered Kab-Fam in 2013.

In 2014, I rented my first shop from the $60,000 I got as a soft loan, which I paid off over five years. The following year, a power crisis in Ghana set us back. People were not buying and the business went down drastically.

In 2016, we bounced back and opened a new branch in Kumasi. We expanded to 10 additional locations within five years by reinvesting our profit.

We have opened four new stores this year and are working on the fifth, bringing the number to 16.

Source: How Made We Made In Africa

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